Wages vs. inflation: As costs rise, living wage advocates hope to see B.C. better address affordability
With Canada’s inflation rate hitting a 31-year high last month, people are paying a lot more for many basic needs including food and shelter, and wages have not kept up.
While B.C.’s minimum wage is set to rise next month, some living wage advocates want to see the province do more to address affordability.
For over two years now, Surrey-based power washing and cleaning company Revive Services has been a certified living wage employer. Owner and founder David Moerman said it’s helped them with recruiting and retaining employees.
“It’s getting more expensive to live here as the weeks go by, so as a business owner, I want to ensure my team is taken care of, they can pay for their fuel, pay for their groceries,” he said of his 10-person team. “If they’re not happy and taken care of outside of work, they’re not going to be the best version of themself at work, so I want to make sure they’re not stressed out financially.”
Last month, Canada’s inflation rate rose to 6.8 percent from the previous April, while average hourly wages rose 3.3 percent year over year, according to Statistics Canada.
Living Wage for Families B.C. organizer Anastasia French says the current living wage calculated for Metro Vancouver is $20.52 an hour.
“It takes into account all of the costs that a family of four has, so that’s the cost of shelter, the cost of food, child care, really the essentials,” she said.
“We’ve now nearly got 400 living wage employers across the province, which has doubled within the two years of the pandemic.”
B.C.’s minimum wage is set to rise to $15.65 cents an hour on June 1, which is the highest rate among the provinces. The increase is based on last year’s average annual inflation rate.
“On one level, any increase to the minimum wage is good,” French said. “But there is still that significant gap between the minimum wage and the living wage.”
The province has been gathering feedback on that gap, and Labour Minister Harry Bains is now waiting on a report from the Fair Wages Commission, which he said had been delayed by the pandemic.
“It should be in my hands soon,” Bains said. “And I think we will learn from that report what do we do between the living wage and the minimum wage.”
Senior policy analyst with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business Jairo Yunis said imposing more costs on small businesses could end up hurting employment.
“We acknowledge the cost of living in B.C. has skyrocketed in the last few years, but there are better ways to tackle the affordability crisis that don’t involve piling up all these costs to small businesses,” he said. “What the government can do to tackle inflation and tackle the affordability crisis should be to ease some of the supply side constraints that are partially fuelling the problem especially for instance in energy markets and housing.”
Yunis added just 46 per cent of small businesses in the province are back at their normal revenue level since the pandemic, “so we’re not out of the woods yet.”
French said her group also wants to see the government do more to address overall affordability, so that at some point the living wage could potentially come down.
“We know that the majority of families that are living in poverty in B.C. and across Canada are working, and they’re working really, really hard to try and make ends meet,” she said.
“Maybe you can’t reach all the way to the living wage right now…maybe bring your staff up slightly this year and then slightly more next year. Also it’s worth stressing that the living wage can be made up of both base wage and any additional benefits that you offer. So if you have a health and dental plan, that lowers your living wage by about a dollar an hour…if you offer any additional paid time off beyond the statutory minimums or any additional paid sick leave beyond the five days or vacation beyond the ten days, that can go towards your living wage requirements.”
French said their next living wage calculation will be made in November. Employers that are
part of the program have six months to bring workers up to the latest level in order to be certified.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Spectacular aurora light show to be seen across Canada Friday night
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
McGill University seeks emergency injunction to dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University has filed a request for an injunction to have the pro-Palestinian encampment removed from its campus.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
U.S. says Israel's use of U.S. arms likely violated international law, but evidence is incomplete
The Biden administration said Israel's use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but wartime conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.
Barron Trump declines to serve as an RNC delegate
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, has declined to serve as a delegate at this summer’s Republican National Convention, according to a senior Trump campaign adviser and a statement from Melania Trump's office.
Mother assaulted by stranger while breastfeeding baby in her car: Vancouver police
A person was arrested in East Vancouver Thursday after allegedly entering a car while a mother was breastfeeding her four-month-old boy.
'We have laws': Premier Smith says police action justified in Calgary
The actions, including the decision to use non-lethal force, to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters from the University of Calgary campus were justified, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said Friday.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.